Debt is plaguing our nation. This is true of our government that has a current debt of approximately $15,500,000,000,000. The estimated population of the United States is 312,400,000, meaning that each citizen's share of this debt is almost $50,000. Think about that… $50,000 per person, including teenagers and children.
But it’s not just our government that has a debt problem. According to one study, the average household credit card debt (this doesn’t include mortgage, cars loans, etc.) is nearly $16,000.
There are several times that the Bible speaks to debt. One these is found in the book of Proverbs, where is says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7)
Why do we allow ourselves to become slaves to debt?
For many people, it’s the desire to live beyond their means.
Jesus might deal with the same issue in another way…
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:19-21,24)
Our society teaches us to become slaves to debt so that we can amass treasure in this world. How crazy is that? Even though God warns us not to be slaves to a lender and to serve money, many of us make decisions where we do both.
As many of your know, a little over a year ago, Michelle and I finished paying off over $33,000 in credit card debt. It was such a freeing feeling. Looking back, I know we spent a lot of money we should never have spent on things we didn’t really need.
One of my biggest fears for young people today is that they will make mistakes that lead them into debt. Our culture tells us that we form our identity based on what we own. We often allow our stuff to define us and at the end of the day, that means that our stuff owns us; we don’t own it.
Don’t allow yourself to become a slave. Remain free from the master that is debt.
I am convinced that one of the biggest obstacles for people who want to do good is debt. Instead of having money to give those in need, they have to make a debt payment. Rather then tithe at church, they are paying 10% or more of their income for the credit card’s minimum payment.
The less debt you have, the more you can do for the Kingdom. It often reduces your stress and releases your money for other things. Here is something to think about…
If the average household credit card debt is $16,000, and your minimum payment is 2% of the balance (a typical amount), your monthly payment would be $320 per month. It would take you 704 months (almost 60 years) to be rid of your debt and in that time, you will pay approximately $46,000 in interest.
Even if we disregard the original $16,000 that you spent, think about how much you could have done to serve others with almost $50,000. Your slavery to debt would have made you a servant to another master and your opportunities to serve the Lord would have been severely reduced.
Decide now what master you want to serve, and spend accordingly.
shine!
Jason
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Rich toward God
Obey your thirst.
Life is short. Play more.
Just do it.
Hungry? Why wait?
All of these slogans above seem to focus on the same idea. Life exists for your pleasure.
While I believe that God desires for us to live an abundant life, I don’t believe we were created to live a life focused on entertaining and pleasing ourselves.
But you might think to yourself, aren’t those the same thing?
No. But our commercialized, market-driven, consumeristic society would want you to believe that. How else would they convince us to spend billions of dollars every year on things that we don’t really need?
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating that we all have to go home and get ride of every television, video game system, cell phone, and every other item that provides us with entertainment and recreation.
Rather, we need to consider how our spending and consumption align with the Kingdom of God. God has not provided written rules about what you can own and what you can’t. The Bible does not tell you what level of financial accumulation is right and what level is wrong. But, God does have a lot to say about what we do with our blessings, including this parable told by Jesus in Luke 12…
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
The heart of the matter is, well, the heart. Life is not about taking it easy, eating, drinking, and being merry. Rather, life is about being rich toward God. And what does being rich toward God look like?
I would guess it looks a lot like the life of Jesus.
shine!
Jason
Life is short. Play more.
Just do it.
Hungry? Why wait?
All of these slogans above seem to focus on the same idea. Life exists for your pleasure.
While I believe that God desires for us to live an abundant life, I don’t believe we were created to live a life focused on entertaining and pleasing ourselves.
But you might think to yourself, aren’t those the same thing?
No. But our commercialized, market-driven, consumeristic society would want you to believe that. How else would they convince us to spend billions of dollars every year on things that we don’t really need?
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating that we all have to go home and get ride of every television, video game system, cell phone, and every other item that provides us with entertainment and recreation.
Rather, we need to consider how our spending and consumption align with the Kingdom of God. God has not provided written rules about what you can own and what you can’t. The Bible does not tell you what level of financial accumulation is right and what level is wrong. But, God does have a lot to say about what we do with our blessings, including this parable told by Jesus in Luke 12…
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
The heart of the matter is, well, the heart. Life is not about taking it easy, eating, drinking, and being merry. Rather, life is about being rich toward God. And what does being rich toward God look like?
I would guess it looks a lot like the life of Jesus.
shine!
Jason
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The best investment
I have to admit that if I had been in the room when the woman poured that perfume on Jesus’ head I probably would have said the same thing. The Gospel of Matthew says that, “When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. ‘Why this waste?’ they asked. ‘This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.’” (Matthew 26:8-9)
Why is it that we so often value stuff over people?
I was raised to respect people’s property. It was one of the key values that I learned as a child. I still continue to live by that principle, but I have to be careful not to let the thing become more valuable that the person.
Living in a society where our value is often determined by our possessions really blurs the line. Rather than valuing the thing because it belongs to another person, we often allow ourselves to value the thing above the person.
Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to our stuff. How often do we allow our things to come between us and other people? Whether it’s coveting what someone else has or being so protective of our own things, we can allow what we have to become more important than another person.
In Act 2:44-45, Luke writes, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
Imagine how much different things could be if we lived this way. What if instead of every person buying a lawnmower, a group of people bought one that they shared? What if a group of people decided to share a car instead of each of them having an extra vehicle?
Last year, I spent a weekend with the Rutba House community in Durham, North Carolina. This community lives in two houses near the campus of Duke University and they are committed to sharing life as a part of the New Monastic movement. In each of the houses you find a collection of people of different ages and life situations. From young singles to complete families, each house shares responsibilities, finances, and much more, and all under one roof!
I wonder what would happen if we could embrace some of these attitudes in our lives. Our society teaches us to build houses filled with empty rooms and furniture we seldom use. We own things that we could easy share with others, but we are led to believe that everyone needs one in their garage, kitchen, or basement.
We want to be self-sufficient and not have to rely on others, so we purchase possessions to enable us to take care of ourselves. How much consumption and accumulation would be unnecessary if we could change our views on stuff? Not only could it help us own less and be burdened by less, maybe it would help us learn how to live in connected community where we actually learn to value and depend on each other more.
shine!
Jason
Why is it that we so often value stuff over people?
I was raised to respect people’s property. It was one of the key values that I learned as a child. I still continue to live by that principle, but I have to be careful not to let the thing become more valuable that the person.
Living in a society where our value is often determined by our possessions really blurs the line. Rather than valuing the thing because it belongs to another person, we often allow ourselves to value the thing above the person.
Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to our stuff. How often do we allow our things to come between us and other people? Whether it’s coveting what someone else has or being so protective of our own things, we can allow what we have to become more important than another person.
In Act 2:44-45, Luke writes, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
Imagine how much different things could be if we lived this way. What if instead of every person buying a lawnmower, a group of people bought one that they shared? What if a group of people decided to share a car instead of each of them having an extra vehicle?
Last year, I spent a weekend with the Rutba House community in Durham, North Carolina. This community lives in two houses near the campus of Duke University and they are committed to sharing life as a part of the New Monastic movement. In each of the houses you find a collection of people of different ages and life situations. From young singles to complete families, each house shares responsibilities, finances, and much more, and all under one roof!
I wonder what would happen if we could embrace some of these attitudes in our lives. Our society teaches us to build houses filled with empty rooms and furniture we seldom use. We own things that we could easy share with others, but we are led to believe that everyone needs one in their garage, kitchen, or basement.
We want to be self-sufficient and not have to rely on others, so we purchase possessions to enable us to take care of ourselves. How much consumption and accumulation would be unnecessary if we could change our views on stuff? Not only could it help us own less and be burdened by less, maybe it would help us learn how to live in connected community where we actually learn to value and depend on each other more.
shine!
Jason
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Real hospitality
I believe that we often sell hospitality short. When most people think of hospitality, they think of someone decorating their house nice for some guests or providing a delicious meal. While this is part of hospitality, it is so much more.
Hospitality is an openness, a willingness to be vulnerable and available. This can be hard in a world that values privacy and private property. Let me share with you a paragraph from an essay I wrote a few years ago:
In our current society, hospitality has become a lost art in many ways. We live in a world of microwave ovens, text messaging, and iPods. Food can be prepared with little human interaction or need for others. We can communicate with one another without ever having to speak a word or look someone in the eye. We are able to enjoy our own, private entertainment without little need to consider the desires or tastes of others. In this world filled with self-centered, sometimes impersonal interaction, we must provide an example of authentic community. This requires us to display an openness towards everyone we encounter. We cannot and should not necessarily return to the specific methods of hospitality from centuries ago. However, we can show ways to engage in meaningful relationship that includes hospitality. In a world where people often close themselves off from others, we can be the ones who open our lives and make a difference in a world filled with loneliness and isolation.
Hospitality, at least in the Kingdom of God, requires us to open our lives to others. It cannot simply be something we do, it must become a part of who we are. We must strive to be people who open our lives to others.
This starts with an openness towards God. Are you welcoming God into every aspect of your life? Or do you only allow God access to certain parts? The more open we are towards God, the more open we will become towards others.
In a society that tends to build walls, avoid transparency, and cherishes the privacy of the individual, we have developed a high sense of loneliness. People are more opportunities than ever to communicate, but our communications are becoming more shallow.
If we are going to practice deep and significant hospitality, we must open our lives to God and other people. We must create margin in our lives and not be so busy. We have to have room for random, spontaneous moments where God can show up in powerful ways. Hospitality is more than serving up a fancy meal, it’s serving others through offering them all that you have and are.
shine!
Jason
Hospitality is an openness, a willingness to be vulnerable and available. This can be hard in a world that values privacy and private property. Let me share with you a paragraph from an essay I wrote a few years ago:
In our current society, hospitality has become a lost art in many ways. We live in a world of microwave ovens, text messaging, and iPods. Food can be prepared with little human interaction or need for others. We can communicate with one another without ever having to speak a word or look someone in the eye. We are able to enjoy our own, private entertainment without little need to consider the desires or tastes of others. In this world filled with self-centered, sometimes impersonal interaction, we must provide an example of authentic community. This requires us to display an openness towards everyone we encounter. We cannot and should not necessarily return to the specific methods of hospitality from centuries ago. However, we can show ways to engage in meaningful relationship that includes hospitality. In a world where people often close themselves off from others, we can be the ones who open our lives and make a difference in a world filled with loneliness and isolation.
Hospitality, at least in the Kingdom of God, requires us to open our lives to others. It cannot simply be something we do, it must become a part of who we are. We must strive to be people who open our lives to others.
This starts with an openness towards God. Are you welcoming God into every aspect of your life? Or do you only allow God access to certain parts? The more open we are towards God, the more open we will become towards others.
In a society that tends to build walls, avoid transparency, and cherishes the privacy of the individual, we have developed a high sense of loneliness. People are more opportunities than ever to communicate, but our communications are becoming more shallow.
If we are going to practice deep and significant hospitality, we must open our lives to God and other people. We must create margin in our lives and not be so busy. We have to have room for random, spontaneous moments where God can show up in powerful ways. Hospitality is more than serving up a fancy meal, it’s serving others through offering them all that you have and are.
shine!
Jason
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